Hey,
I'm looking around here and it seems as though almost everyone has trouble with clothing sizes. I have a huge problem finding pants and sleeves that are long enough for me. I'm just wondering who exactly they're making clothes to fit?

I feel your pain as I have a hard time finding pants as they are all so long. Sometimes even the petite length is to long.

I've just noticed recently about my tops. I used to wear an XL and now that I'm buying mediums and smalls I'm finding that the sleeves are too short. I don't want to swim in the top just so it will cover my arms.

I have to agree. I seem to be at the height where regular (by that I mean plus-size) clothes make me look like Farmer Bob in flood season, but Tall Girl clothes make me look like a chubby child who wandered into the adult section.

At least men sometimes get a choice of lengths for trousers and jeans, don't they?

Lol funny post-RoseJasmine- I found the evil of the Tall Girl clothing too. Maybe it was just the jeans and skirts I tried on, but it seemed like they were cut for women who have small little waists and not happy little apple-shapes like me. Everything was super tight and super long.

Gosh I'm the exact opposite of you two. I can't find anything in a long or tall with a small enough waist. Whenever I pull them out they're 12 longs or 10 longs or the extreme opposite 0 or 1 longs. Like there's no medium/small sized tall people. that's why I'm wondering if you guys have trouble and I'm having trouble who is actually finding clothes that fit?

My problem is that they always seem to have a size I DON"T wear. No matter what size I am they never seem to have it! And I agree with RoseJasmine, 5'8" - 5'9" is No Man's Land. Too tall for regular sizes, too short for tall sizes.

Pants give me occasional issues (at 5'7", the "regular" length pants are sometimes a bit short and the long ones are almost always too long), but shirts really give me grief.

Finding a button down that will fit me without making me look slutty is an art. If I were to go by my boobs, my shirt size would be a 10, but most 10's fit me like tents. If I were to go by my waist, my shirt size would be a 4, but if I even TRIED to button a 4 over my jinormous coconuts, the buttons would fly off instantly. Sometimes, I will buy shirts in 6's and just button them halfway, but if I want to look professional (and not like the slutty office assistant), this definitely poses a problem.

I completely agree with Shane, button ups are the worst when you actually have boobs. I am also 5'7 and you would think that wouldn't be too bad, but like she said pants are either a bit too short (regular), too long (tall), or if the regular happens to be the right length they shrink and I look goofy.

Sleeves are a big problem for me though.....3/4 sleeves come up to my elbow, regular sleeves hit a little lower than where 3/4 are supposed to....grrrr!

I told my dbf about womens sizing and he was soo confused, he asked why they do it like that and I said I dunno, and he was even more confused....at least we aren't the only ones that think it's crazy

You people are scaring me. As I'm heading down the road on this weightloss journey, I've been looking forward to getting new clothes. Right now I'm at a "tween" size. L is too big in some things but M is just not doable right now. I'm not quite 5'4" so petite fits as far as length. However, I've always had to buy a larger size because of "my girls". I'm not getting a reduction surgery just so my chesticles will fit in a blouse.

Hmmmm.

I don't want to have to go back to making my clothes.

Find a good seamstress ladies! That truly is the only hope for those of us who aren't super models. I think a big problem with clothing is they design it to fit a super model type body and then resize it in the same proportions for the rest of us.

My biggest problems are that regular pants are too long in the leg, but petite are too short in the rise (I'm all torso and short legs) and the button up thing that Shane mentioned. Seriously, do designers understand female anatomy?

So, I have pants hemmed and I buy button ups to fit the girls and have the waist taken in. Yes, it sucks to have to pay twice for clothes and then alterations, but at least stuff will fit then.

ROFL - this thread has me spewing my iced tea !! I just recently realized that I am petite - have been wearing the huge knit fat lady pants with the cuffs for so long - I had no idea about length. I found one place where I can get 27" jeans and they are perfect - but most petites in the stores are 30" or so. A seamstress or tailor is a luxury at this point because I only stay in a size for six weeks or so. I have three pairs of jeans and 5 shirts that fit right now - thats it. It will be so nice when I reach my goal so I can buy things that I will have long term. OH yeah - and you will LOVE this - one of my customers/casual friends told me that my boobs are too big now - out of proportion with my smaller body. They have always been bigger but he is right that they look MUCH bigger now - he is gay and I think he doesn't really appreciate breasts so I am trying to appreciate the fact that many woman pay lots of money to get boobs like mine - just wish it was easier to find shirts to fit them.

I may be one of those weird people who clothes actually fit correctly. I'm 5'8" and built pretty boyishly. I have no hips, no butt, and pretty much no "coconuts" to speak of. I have a waist, but not the sort of waist I'd have if I were more hourglass-ey.

The only thing that is a little bit off on me as far as pants goes is the butt. I have SO little butt that jeans tend to be looser there than I'd like, but not by much. Buttondowns fit fine (again, no boobs), but not if I wear a push up or padded bra with them, so I always wonder what people with anything up there do!

So there you have it. Clothes are designed for sticks, or, when they size them up, people who are built very un-womanly.

"A five ounce bird could not carry a 1 pound coconut! " --Monty Python and the Holy Grail


I have almost no "coconuts" to speak of, but my tummy is a bit round so I have problems with tops built for plus sized women which have darts in front to accommodate the girls. With jeans I have to get the petite length, but must go up a size to accommodate all the junk in the trunk.

YES! Thank you! Women's sizes are sooooo complicated. Sometimes I wish I could just be a man with man sizes. Waist/Inseam there's your pair of pants thankyouverymuchcomeagain.

I'd love to make a pair of jeans that's based on waist to hip ratio, hip to thigh ratio, and then inseam. It would be INSANE to make, expensive, and oh so worth it.